PhysicalBee

Spranger (van Den Schilde), Bartholomaeus

2005-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Bartholomeus Sprangers, or Sprangerson Antwerp painter noted for his paintings of nudes executed in the late Mannerist style. In his efforts to develop a Northern artistic canon of the human figure, Spranger employed mannered poses, slender, elongated bodies, and a gleaming, brittle texture in his work. The figures smile invitingly, and the influence

Urticaceae

2005-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

The nettle family comprising about 45 genera of herbs, shrubs, small trees, and a few vines, distributed primarily in tropical regions. The family is typical of the nettle order (Urticales). Many species, especially the nettles (Urtica; see photograph) and Australian nettle trees (Laportea), have stinging hairs on the stems and leaves. The leaves are varied and

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

2005-04-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Works on St. Thomas' historical and doctrinal contexts include Pierre Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant et l'averroïsme latin au XIIIme siècle (1899, reprinted 1976); Étienne Gilson, The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy (1936, reprinted 1991; originally published in French, 1932), The Spirit of Thomism (1964), and History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1955); M.D. Chenu, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century (1968; originally published in French, 1957); and Fernand van Steenberghen, La Philosophie au XIIIe siècle, 2nd ed. (1991).

Gunasthana

2005-04-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

The initial stages of development are: (1) mithyatva

Nero

2005-04-02T02:29:00.000-08:00

Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, died in about AD 40, and Nero was brought up by his mother, Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. After poisoning her second husband, Agrippina incestuously became the wife of her uncle, the emperor Claudius, and persuaded him to favour Nero for the succession, over the rightful claim of his own son,

Hormisdas, Saint

2005-04-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

Born of a wealthy family of Frosinone in the Campania, Hormisdas was married before he rose in the church. (His son became pope as Silverius.) Pope Symmachus made him deacon, and he was prominent in attendance

Paradise

2005-04-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

In religion, a place of exceptional happiness and delight. The term paradise is often used as a synonym for the Garden of Eden before the expulsion of Adam and Eve. An earthly paradise is often conceived of as existing in a time when heaven and earth were very close together or actually touching, and when humans and gods had free and happy association. Many religions

Macomb

2005-04-01T10:11:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1826) of McDonough county, western Illinois, U.S., on the east fork of the La Moine River. Settled by New Englanders in 1829 and originally called Washington, it was laid out (1830) and renamed after General Alexander Macomb, an officer in the War of 1812. The city is the site of Western Illinois University (founded there as a normal school in 1899). The economy is based on light manufacturing

Voznesensky, Andrey Andreyevich

2005-03-31T00:56:00.000-08:00

Voznesensky spent his early childhood in the city of Vladimir. In 1941 he moved with his mother and sister to Kurgan, in the Ural Mountains, while his father assisted in the evacuation of factories from besieged Leningrad. The profound

Balao

2005-03-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

Oil port, northwestern Ecuador, on the Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Esmeraldas city. Its development is entirely due to its choice as the terminus for the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline, built 1970–72 to exploit the rich petroleum deposits of Ecuador's Napo province, in El Oriente region, the tropical rainforest of the headwaters of the Amazon east of the Andes. Balao's terminal, opened

Alisar Hüyük

2005-03-30T00:27:00.000-08:00

Site of an ancient Anatolian town southeast of Bogazköy in central Turkey. Thorough and extensive excavations there by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (1927–32) were the first systematic stratigraphic investigations on the Anatolian plateau. In the long succession of strata revealed at Alisar Hüyük—from Chalcolithic (c. 4000–c. 2600 BC) to Phrygian (c. 1200– c. 700 BC)—the only era

Hesiod

2005-03-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

Greek Hesiodos, Latin Hesiodus one of the earliest Greek poets, often called the “father of Greek didactic poetry.” Two of his complete epics have survived, the Theogony, relating the myths of the gods, and the Works and Days, describing peasant life.

Checkers

2005-03-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Draughts, board game, one of the world's oldest games. Checkers is played by two persons who oppose each other across a board of 64 light and dark squares, the same as a chessboard. The 24 playing pieces are disk-shaped and of contrasting colours (whatever their colours, they are identified as black and white). At the start of the game, each contestant has 12 pieces arranged on the board. While

Lustreware

2005-03-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

Type of pottery ware decorated with metallic lustres by techniques dating at least from the 9th century. One technique of Middle Eastern origin, which produced the famous Hispano-Moresque pottery in Spain and Italian and Spanish majolica, involved a multistaged process that produced a kind of staining of the ware. In a second type of lustreware, which was cheaper

Henríquez Ureña, Pedro

2005-03-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

Henríquez Ureña's father, a doctor, became president of the Dominican Republic, and his mother was a poet and teacher. After finishing

Pontiac

2005-03-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1820) of Oakland county, southeastern Michigan, U.S., on the Clinton River, 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Detroit. Named for the Ottawa Indian chief, it was located on the Saginaw Trail and became an important wagon and carriage production centre in the 1880s. It later turned to the manufacture of automobiles, auto parts, buses, and trucks. The Oakland Pioneer and Historical Society

Cartoon

2005-03-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Originally, and still, a full-size sketch or drawing used as a pattern for a tapestry, painting, mosaic, or other graphic art form, but also, since the early 1840s, a pictorial parody utilizing caricature, satire, and usually humour. Cartoons are used today primarily for conveying political commentary and editorial opinion in newspapers and for social comedy and visual wit

Arts, Central Asian, Tibetan literature

2005-03-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Tibetan was developed as a literary language from the 7th century onward as a result of earlier cultural contacts with neighbouring Buddhist countries—namely, the small states of the Takla Makan, especially Khotan (Ho-t'ien) and the kingdoms of ancient northwestern India (modern Gilgit, Kashmir, and Kullu) and Nepal. Scripts of Indian origin were in use in these countries,

Orange Order

2005-03-24T02:26:00.000-08:00

The society was formed in 1795 to maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland in the face of rising demands for Catholic Emancipation. Enmity between Roman Catholics and Protestants had always

Clotilda, Saint

2005-03-24T01:39:00.000-08:00

Clotilda was the granddaughter of Gundioc, king of Burgundy, who was related to the Visigothic kings and shared their Arian Christian faith. At Gundioc's death his kingdom was divided between his four sons, Gundobad, Godegesil,

Tábor

2005-03-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

City, Jihoceský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It lies along a bend in the Luznice River 50 miles (80 km) south of Prague. Founded in 1420 by Jan Zizka and other followers of the Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus, Tábor became the radical centre of the more militant members of the movement, known as the Taborites. These people fostered the national spirit and the preservation of the Czech

Applied Logic

2005-03-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

The applications of logic cover a vast range, relating

Visigoth

2005-03-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

The Visigoths were settled agriculturists in Dacia (now in Romania) when they were attacked by the Huns in 376 and driven southward

Berenson, Bernard

2005-03-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

Reared in Boston, Berenson was educated at Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1887. His first book, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), displayed a concise writing style. He was also endowed with a discriminating eye, exceptional

Caucasian Languages, Vocabulary

2005-03-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

The genetic closeness of the Kartvelian languages is evidenced by a large number of structural correspondences and of common lexical (vocabulary) and grammatical items. Though the Kartvelian languages abound in ancient loanwords from Iranian, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages, it is nevertheless possible to single out the basic vocabulary and grammatical

Schumann, Clara

2005-03-20T05:05:00.000-08:00

Encouraged by her father, she studied piano from the age of five and by 1835 had established a reputation throughout Europe as a child prodigy. In 1838 she was honoured by the Austrian court and also was elected to the prestigious Society

Ventifact

2005-03-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Stone that has received one or more highly polished, flattened facets as a result of erosion by windblown sand. The facets are cut in sequence and correlate with the dominant wind direction. As one surface is cut, the stone may become out of balance and may turn to expose another surface to the wind. A ventifact that has been eroded to three curved facets is called a dreikanter.

Berlin, Free University Of

2005-03-18T01:06:00.000-08:00

German Freie Universität Berlin, autonomous, state-financed German university. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948, after Berlin was divided, by a group of professors and students who broke away from East Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm (now Humboldt) University (founded 1809–10) to seek academic freedom. The Free University was restructured in 1970 and again in 1974. Its governing board includes the government, faculty, and

Peters, Carl

2005-03-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

After visiting London to study British principles of colonization, Peters founded the Society for German Colonization in 1884 and later that year, in the Usambara Mountains area

Minami-tori Island

2005-03-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

Japanese Minami-tori-shima , also called Marcus Island coral atoll rising to 204 feet (62 m), in the central Pacific Ocean, 700 miles (1,125 km) southeast of Japan. Prior to World War II it was administered as part of the Tokyo fu (urban prefecture). Occupied by U.S. troops late in the war, it was returned to Japan in 1968. It now shares a common administration with the Bonin Islands and the Volcano Islands. Minami-tori Island, with an area of 740 acres (300 hectares)

Andersen, Hans Christian

2005-03-17T07:52:00.000-08:00

Unique master of the fairy tale whose stories are famous throughout the world; he is also the author of plays, novels, poems, travel books, and several autobiographies. While many of these works are almost unknown outside Denmark, his fairy tales are among the most frequently translated works in all literary

Guadalupe, Basilica Of

2005-03-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

Officially Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe , Spanish Basílica de Guadalupe , or Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Roman Catholic church that is the chief religious centre of Mexico, located in Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo, a northern neighbourhood of Mexico City. The church was erected near the spot where two apparitions of the Virgin are said to have appeared to an Indian convert named Juan Diego in December 1531 and commanded that a church be built. The second apparition resulted

Chauliac, Guy De

2005-03-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

Italian Guido De Cauliaco the most eminent surgeon of the European Middle Ages, whose Chirurgia magna (1363) was a standard work on surgery until at least the 17th century. In this work he describes a narcotic inhalation used as a soporific for surgical patients, as well as numerous surgical procedures, including those for hernia and cataract, which had previously

Janin

2005-03-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

The original ancient settlement is mentioned in the Amarna Letters, a series of 14th-century-BC diplomatic documents

Tatarstan

2005-03-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Volga flows north-south across the western end of the republic, while the Kama, the Volga's largest tributary, forms a roughly east-west axis through the greater part. The Vyatka and the Belaya

Yamaguchi

2005-03-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

Prefecture (ken), extreme western Honshu, Japan, bordered by the Sea of Japan (north), the Shimonoseki-kaikyo (Shimonoseki Strait; southwest), and the Inland Sea (south). Most of its 2,355-sq-mi (6,100-sq-km) area is composed of plateaus and hills, and there are no extensive plains. The limestone caves and outcroppings of the Akiyoshi-dai (plateau) in the west present a typical karst formation

Bona Dea

2005-03-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

(Latin: “Good Goddess”), in Roman religion, deity of fruitfulness, both in the earth and in women. She was identified with various goddesses who had similar functions. The dedication day of her temple on the Aventine was May 1. Her temple was cared for and attended by women only, and the same was the case at a second celebration, at the beginning of December, in the house of a sovereign

Basel-stadt

2005-03-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

French Bâle-ville, Halbkanton (“demicanton”), northern Switzerland, consisting of the city of Basel (q.v.) and two small villages north of the Rhine. Occupying an area of 14 square miles (37 square km), it was formed in 1833 by the division of Basel canton into two half cantons, or demicantons. Its present constitution dates from 1889. The population is mainly German speaking and Protestant. Pop. (1988 est.) 192,559.

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490

2005-03-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

Georges Duby and Robert Mandrou, A History of French Civilization (1964; originally published in French, 1958), provides a good survey, stressing social history. Appropriate volumes from the older source, Ernest Lavisse (ed.), Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'à la révolution, 9 vol. (1900–11), remain useful for this period. Territorial evolution is explored in Léon Mirot, Manuel de géographie historique de la France, 2nd ed., rev. by Albert Mirot, 2 vol. (1947–50, reprinted in 1 vol., 1979). Léopold Genicot, Le XIIIe Siècle européen, 2nd rev. ed. (1984), is a scholarly general review. Accounts of the 14th century are offered in Édouard Perroy, The Hundred Years War (1951, reissued 1965; originally published in French, 1945); and Peter S. Lewis, Later Medieval France (1968). Jacques Heers, L'Occident aux XIVe et XVe siècles: aspects économiques et sociaux, 4th ed. (1973), offers a broader chronological perspective. Individual reigns are studied in John W. Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages (1986); William Chester Jordan, Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade: A Study in Rulership (1979); and Joseph Reese Strayer, The Administration of Normandy Under Saint Louis (1932, reprinted 1971). André Artonne, Le Mouvement de 1314 et les chartes provinciales de 1315 (1912), deals with an important constitutional crisis. Joseph R. Strayer and Charles H. Taylor, Studies in Early French Taxation (1939, reprinted 1972), examines taxation and consultation under the later Capetians; later royal finance is studied in Maurice Rey, Le Domaine du roi et les finances extraordinaires sous Charles VI, 1388–1413 (1965), and Les Finances royales sous Charles VI: les causes du déficit, 1388–1413 (1965). For economy and society, see Georges Duby, Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West (1968, reprinted 1976; originally published in French, 1962); and Guy Fourquin, Les Campagnes de la région parisienne à la fin du Moyen Âge: du milieu du XIIIe au début du XVIe siècle (1964). Social unrest is discussed in Michel Mollat and Philippe Wolff, The Popular Revolutions of the Late Middle Ages (1973; originally published in French, 1970). Charles Petit-Dutaillis, The French Communes in the Middle Ages (1978; originally published in French, 1947), remains the standard account on the cities and towns. The legal system is explored in Bernard Guenée, Tribunaux et gens de justice dans le bailliage de Senlis à la fin du Moyen Âge (1963).

Abutilon

2005-03-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

A. hybridum, sometimes called Chinese lantern, is planted outdoors in warm regions and

Lagrangian Point

2005-03-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, a point in space at which a small body, under the gravitational influence of two large ones, will remain approximately at rest relative to them. The existence of such points was deduced by the French mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1772. In 1906 the first examples were discovered: these were minor planets moving in Jupiter's orbit, under the

Alliteration

2005-03-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

Alliteration

Literature

2005-03-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

In 1997 the world of publishing was as fickle as ever. The sudden death of Diana, princess of Wales (see OBITUARIES), occasioned an outpouring of books that were devoured by the public, even as critics decried the impulse behind them. Although major publishing houses owned by multinational corporations continued their hegemony, an increasing number of highly regarded

Goliad

2005-03-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Historic city, seat (1837) of Goliad county, southern Texas, U.S., near the San Antonio River, 85 miles (137 km) southeast of San Antonio and 80 miles (129 km) north of Corpus Christi. A Spanish mission, Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo Zuñiga (Spanish: “Our Lady of the Holy Spirit of Zuñiga”), and its protective fort, Presidio La Bahía, were established there in 1749 on the site of an Aranama Indian village.

Tzotzil

2005-03-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

Mayan Indians of central Chiapas in southeastern Mexico. Linguistically and culturally the Tzotzil are most closely related to the neighbouring Tzeltal (q.v.). The habitat of the Tzotzil is highland, with mountains, volcanic outcroppings, and valley lowlands. The climate at high altitudes is cool to cold, and summers are very wet. The native Tzotzil live mainly in the

Colenso, John

2005-03-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

Colenso became rector of Forncett St. Mary's Church, Norfolk, in 1846 and in 1853 bishop of Natal, where he served until his death.

U-boat

2005-03-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

German U-boot, abbreviation of Unterseeboot (“undersea boat”), a German submarine. The destruction of enemy shipping by German U-boats was a spectacular feature of both World Wars I and II.

China, Vietnam

2005-03-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

In 1802 a new dynasty was founded in Vietnam (Dai Viet) by Nguyen Phuc Anh, a member of the royal family of Nguyen at Hue, who had expelled the short-lived Tay Son regime and had unified the country. The Ch'ing, under the Chia-ch'ing emperor, recognized the new dynasty as a fait accompli, but a controversy arose as to a name for the new country. Nguyen Phuc Anh demanded the name Nam Viet,

Dragonet

2005-03-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

Any of about 40 species of marine fishes constituting the family Callionymidae (order Perciformes), found in warm temperate or tropical areas, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. Dragonets characteristically have large and elongated fins, large, flattened heads, and small gills that are mere rounded openings. Dragonets are scaleless. The males may be brightly

Computers, The IBM 360

2005-03-08T05:02:00.000-08:00

IBM had been selling business machines since early in the century and had built Howard Aiken's computer to his architectural specifications. But the company had been slow to implement the stored-program digital computer architecture of the early 1950s. It did develop the IBM 650, a (like UNIVAC) decimal implementation of the IAS plan—and the first computer to sell more than

Elias Of Cortona

2005-03-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

In 1217 Elias headed the new Franciscan mission to the Holy Land as first minister provincial of Syria. He visited holy places in Palestine with Francis, returning with him

Allegany

2005-03-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

County, western Maryland, U.S. It consists of an irregular neck of land between Pennsylvania to the north and West Virginia to the south (the North Branch Potomac River constituting the border with West Virginia). The county rests on part of the Allegheny Plateau and includes Rocky Gap State Park, Green Ridge State Forest, and the scenic gorge of Cumberland Narrows (1,000 feet

Swabia

2005-03-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Swabia's name is derived from that of the Suebi, a Germanic people who, with the Alemanni, occupied the upper Rhine and upper Danube region in the 3rd century

Annobón

2005-03-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Pagalu, volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean near the Equator; it is part of Equatorial Guinea. Located about 350 miles (565 km) southwest of continental Equatorial Guinea, it occupies an area of 7 square miles (17 square km) and rises to an elevation of 2,200 feet (671 m). Fishing and lumbering activities are centred in San Antonio, the chief settlement. Pop. (1987 est.) 2,360.

Dachau

2005-03-06T02:36:00.000-08:00

During World War II the main camp was supplemented by about 150 branches scattered throughout

Brehon Laws

2005-03-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Analysis

Water Treader

2005-03-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Mesoveliids are predaceous and are usually seen on floating vegetation or on the water surface. One species, Phrynovelia papua of New Guinea, lives in leaves on the forest

Nutrition, Competition for sites of absorption by the cell

2005-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Since absorption of nutrients frequently occurs by way of active transport within cell membranes, an excess of one nutrient (A) may inhibit absorption of a second nutrient (B), if they share the same absorption pathway. In such cases, the apparent requirement for nutrient B increases; B, however, can sometimes be supplied in an alternate form that is able to enter the cell

Feldkirch

2005-03-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Town, Bundesland (federal province) Vorarlberg, western Austria. It lies along the Ill River, near the Liechtenstein border, about 48 miles (77 km) east-southeast of Zürich, Switzerland. First mentioned as Veldkirichae (Veldkirichum) in 830, the settlement belonged to the counts of Montfort from 1190 until it was sold to Austria in 1375. It was chartered in 1218. Schattenburg castle, the Montforts'

Nabis

2005-03-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Group of artists who, through their widely diverse activities, were a major influence on the art produced in France during the late 19th century. Preaching that a work of art is the end product and visual expression of an artist's synthesis of nature into personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols, they paved the way for the early 20th-century development of abstract and

Dysphagia

2005-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Difficulty or pain in swallowing, caused by lesions or stricture of the upper digestive tract, obstruction of the upper digestive tract by tumours or foreign bodies, or disturbances in the nervous or muscular control of swallowing. Obstruction of the esophagus is the most common cause of dysphagia. People with dysphagia may experience a sensation that food or

World War I, The First Battle of the Marne

2005-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Already on September 3, General J.-S. Gallieni, the military governor of Paris, had guessed the significance of the German 1st Army's swing inward to the Marne east of Paris. On September 4 Joffre, convinced by Gallieni's arguments, decisively ordered his whole left wing to turn about from their retreat and to begin a general offensive against the Germans' exposed right flank

Philopoemen

2005-03-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

He was trained to a career of arms by the Academic philosophers Ecdelus and Demophanes. After spending some 10 years as a mercenary leader in Crete, he returned to Achaea and was elected federal cavalry commander for 210/209, when his reorganized

Black Flag

2005-02-28T05:07:00.000-08:00

American band whose extensive touring and prolific recording helped to popularize hardcore punk, the genre that arose in California in the early 1980s in response to the punk movement of the 1970s. The original members were Greg Ginn (b. June 8, 1954), Chuck Dukowski (b. Feb. 1, 1954), Keith Morris, and Brian Migdol. Later members included Henry Rollins (original name Henry Garfield; b. Feb. 13, 1961, Washington,

Pregnancy, Chorionic villi sampling

2005-02-28T04:11:00.000-08:00

The technique of retrieving a sample of villi from the chorion (outer embryonic membrane) within the uterus is similar to amniocentesis but can be carried out much earlier in pregnancy, between the 8th and 12th week of gestation. The test can be performed through either the abdomen or the vagina and cervix. The latter technique is carried out using ultrasonic visualization,

Quindío

2005-02-28T02:02:00.000-08:00

Departamento, west-central Colombia, on the western slopes of the Andean Cordillera Central. The smallest department in the nation, it occupies an area of 712 square miles (1,845 square km) in one of Colombia's leading coffee-producing regions. Bananas, corn (maize), sugarcane, and beans are among the other crops, and livestock raising is widespread. Quindío has rich deposits of

Leo

2005-02-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

(Latin: Lion), in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Cancer and Virgo, at about 10 hours 30 minutes right ascension (the coordinate of the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 15° north declination (angular distance north of the celestial equator). Regulus (Alpha Leonis), the brightest star, is of the first magnitude. The November meteor shower

Aleixandre, Vicente

2005-02-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Aleixandre was the son of a railway engineer. He studied law and business management and from 1920 to 1922 taught commercial law. He became seriously ill in 1925 and during

Steffani, Agostino

2005-02-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

Steffani studied music in Venice, Rome, and Munich, where he served the Elector of Bavaria from 1674 to 1688, becoming by 1681 director of chamber music. He left Munich and entered the service of the Duke of Brunswick, later elector of Hanover, where he remained

Grace & Co.

2005-02-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

The company grew out of a Peruvian land and resource enterprise formed by William R. Grace in 1854. In 1865 Grace moved the business headquarters to New York City, where the company expanded into shipping. The firm was incorporated

Eylau, Battle Of

2005-02-25T03:57:00.000-08:00

(Feb. 7–8, 1807), one of the engagements in the Napoleonic War of the Third Coalition. The first major deadlock suffered by Napoleon, the battle was fought around the East Prussian town of Eylau (modern Bagrationovsk, Russia), 23 miles (37 km) south of Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The 76,000 Russians and Prussians under Leonty Leontyevich Bennigsen confronted 74,000 men under Napoleon shortly after

Amreli

2005-02-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

Formerly Amaravalli, town, southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. The town lies on the Kathiawar Peninsula, 125 miles (200 km) southwest of Ahmadabad. Primarily a commercial centre, its industries include the manufacture of khadi (coarse cotton cloth), tanning, silverworking, and cotton ginning. Amreli is served by a railway and an airfield. Chief crops of the surrounding area are millet, peanuts

Aardwolf

2005-02-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

(species Proteles cristatus), African carnivore generally placed in the family Hyaenidae but separated by some authorities as the family Protelidae. The aardwolf, whose name in Afrikaans means “earth wolf,” resembles a small striped hyena. It is yellowish with vertical black stripes and a bushy, black-tipped tail, and it bears a long, coarse mane

Walter Of Coventry

2005-02-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

Walter was not a historian or chronicler in his own right; he merely brought together the works of Marianus Scotus, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Roger of Hoveden, and

Amphibious Warfare

2005-02-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

Military operations characterized by attacks launched from the sea by naval and landing forces against hostile shores. The main form is the amphibious assault, which may be conducted for any of several purposes: to serve as a prelude to further combat operations ashore; to seize a site required as an advanced naval or air base; or to deny the use of the site or area to

Pytheas

2005-02-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

Sailing from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic, Pytheas stopped at the Phoenician city of

Addo Elephant National Park

2005-02-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

National park in Eastern province, South Africa. It has an area of 208 square miles (540 square km) and consists of two sections connected by a corridor. The southern part of the park lies in the Sundays River valley south of the Suurberg Range, north of Port Elizabeth, and was established as Addo Elephant National Park in 1931. It is largely covered with dense, impenetrable evergreen

Amirante Isles

2005-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Group of coral islands in the western Indian Ocean, lying about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of the Seychelles group and forming, with the Seychelles and other islands, the Republic of Seychelles. The Amirante Isles were known to Persian Gulf traders centuries ago and were sighted by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama on his second voyage to India, in 1502, but they are still

Peter Ii

2005-02-21T02:53:00.000-08:00

Peter married (1204) Mary, lady of Montpellier, and thus greatly extended Aragonese power in southern France. Despite the violent objections of his subjects, he had himself crowned by Pope Innocent III in Rome and declared his kingdom a feudatory of the Holy See (1204). Peter, with other Spanish kings,

Aesthetics, Emotion, response, and enjoyment

2005-02-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

It is natural to suppose that a spectator's response to King Lear is at least in part emotional, and that emotion plays a crucial role both in the enjoyment of art and in establishing the value of art. Moreover, it is not only art that stirs our emotions in the act of aesthetic attention: the same is or may be true of natural beauty whether that of a face or of a landscape. These

Mac Family

2005-02-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

The Mac family began as ministers to the Le kings of the Vietnamese Later Le dynasty (1428–1787). By the early 16th century, however, the Later Le rulers had become virtually powerless, and in 1527 Mac Dang Dung, the head of the family, usurped the throne. Eight years later the powerful Nguyen family

Fahd

2005-02-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

Fahd was the first son of Hassa Sudairi after her remarriage to the founder of the kingdom, Ibn Sa'ud. Court educated in religion, chivalry, and politics, Fahd was named minister

Deer, The Book Of

2005-02-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

Illuminated manuscript written in Latin, probably in the 9th century, at a monastery founded by St. Columba at Deer Abbey (now in Aberdeenshire, Scotland) and containing 12th-century additions in Latin and an early form of Scottish Gaelic. The Book of Deer includes the whole of the New Testament Gospel of St. John and parts of the other three Gospels, an early version of the

Khartoum

2005-02-18T06:34:00.000-08:00

Arabic Al-Khurtum (“Elephant's Trunk”), city, executive capital of The Sudan, just south of the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. It has bridge connections with its sister towns, Khartoum North and Omdurman, with which it forms The Sudan's largest conurbation. Originally an Egyptian army camp (pitched 1821), Khartoum grew into a garrisoned army town. The Mahdists besieged and destroyed

Leaf-nosed Snake

2005-02-18T02:18:00.000-08:00

Any of four species of small burrowing snakes of the family Colubridae that have the nose shield enlarged and flattened, with free edges. Several subspecies of each also exist. The two members of the genus Phyllorhynchus are found in creosote-bush deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, where they hunt at night for lizards and insects. The two species

Pitr

2005-02-17T18:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Pitri (Sanskrit: “father”) , plural Pitaras, Pitrs , or Pitris in Hinduism, any of the spirits of the dead ancestors or of all the dead who have been cremated or buried in accordance with the proper rites. In the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of ancient India, the “fathers” were considered to be immortal like the gods and to share in the sacrifice, though they received different offerings. The “way of the fathers,” characterized by observance

Araliaceae

2005-02-17T03:48:00.000-08:00

The ginseng family of flowering plants, in the order Apiales, comprising approximately 700 species centred in Southeast Asia and tropical America. Most members are shrubs or trees, though there are a number of climbers and a few herbs. The family has large, usually alternate, compound leaves, five-parted flowers arranged in compound umbels (flat-topped clusters), and a

Baptism

2005-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

A sacrament of admission to the Christian Church. The forms and rituals of the various churches vary, but Baptism almost invariably involves the use of water and the Trinitarian invocation, “I baptize you: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The candidate may be wholly or partly immersed in water, the water may be poured over the head, or a few drops

Coleroon River

2005-02-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

River in Tiruchchirappalli and Thanjavur districts, Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, formed by the northern bifurcation of the Cauvery River at Srirangam. The river flows between South Arcot and Thanjavur districts for 36 mi (58 km) and empties through several mouths into the Bay of Bengal, 3 mi south of Porto Novo. The Coleroon is part of the Cauvery Delta, the most fertile and

Kerry

2005-02-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

Irish Ciarraí county in the province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. With an area of 1,815 square miles (4,701 square km), it is bounded by Counties Limerick and Cork to the east and by the Atlantic Ocean or its inlets to the south, west, and north. Tralee is the county seat. The principal highlands of Kerry, among which are the highest mountains in Ireland, are of sandstone. Three, and part of a fourth,

War Democrat

2005-02-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

The great majority of Northern Democrats stayed loyal to the Union after the South seceded. So-called Peace Democrats (or “Copperheads” in pejorative Unionist terminology) opposed the war and advocated a negotiated peace with concessions

Malakoff

2005-02-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Town, Hauts-de-Seine département, Paris région, north-central France. A southwestern industrial suburb of Paris, it has an electrical-engineering school and manufactures electrical equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and precision instruments. The town was created in 1883 and was named for the fortress of Malakhov at Sevastopol, which was captured by the French

Buzau

2005-02-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Judet (county), southeastern Romania, occupying an area of 2,344 square miles (6,072 square km). The Buzau mountain range, part of the Eastern Carpathians and the sub-Carpathian mountains, lies in the west, rising above settlement areas in the valleys and lowlands. The Buzau River and its tributaries drain eastward. Buzau city, the county capital, has been an economic centre with ties to

Morristown

2005-02-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

Town, seat (1740) of Morris county, north-central New Jersey, U.S., on the Whippany River, 18 miles (29 km) west of Newark. Founded as West Hanover in 1710, when a forge was established to exploit local iron ore, it was renamed in 1740 for Lewis Morris, then governor of the colony. During the American Revolution the area was the winter quarters of the American army in 1779–80, where more than 10,000 troops camped; the

Nacka

2005-02-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

Town in the län (county) of Stockholm, southeastern Sweden, on the Södertörn peninsula of the landskap (province) of Södermanland. A southeastern suburb of Stockholm, it developed into a residential and industrial area with the coming of the railroad in 1893, and in 1949 was incorporated as a town. Leading industries include chemical technology, flour milling, and the manufacture

Router

2005-02-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

Portable electric power tool used in carpentry and furniture making that consists of an electric motor, a base, two handle knobs, and bits (cutting tools). The motor has a chuck for holding the bits by their straight shanks on one end of its shaft and fits upright (chuck down) in the base. The motor can be raised or lowered relative to the base to adjust the depth of cut made

Rambouillet

2005-02-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

Breed of sheep, developed from selections of a few hundred of the best Merino sheep of Spain in 1786 and 1799 by the French government at its national sheepfold at Rambouillet, Fr. First imported to the United States in 1840, the breed was successfully molded through selective breeding to meet the needs of a large class of U.S. sheep producers. Rambouillets prevail on the western ranges,

Malabo

2005-02-10T04:25:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1973) Santa Isabel, capital of Equatorial Guinea. It lies on the northern edge of the island of Bioko (or Fernando Po) on the rim of a sunken volcano. With an average temperature of 77° F (25° C) and an annual rainfall of 75 inches (1,900 mm), it has one of the more onerous climates in the Bight of Biafra (Gulf of Guinea). Malabo is the republic's commercial and financial centre. Its harbour can dock several ships, and

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The nature of Andean civilization

2005-02-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

The coastal desert was inhabited for millennia by fishermen, and many of their settlements have been studied by archaeologists. The people in these communities were familiar with the sea and depended heavily on its products, but from very early times they also used and possibly cultivated native varieties of cotton. Textiles have been the major art form in the

Barry, Philip

2005-02-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Barry was educated at Yale and in 1919 entered George Pierce Baker's 47 Workshop at Harvard. His A Punch for Judy was produced by the workshop in 1920. You and I, also written while Barry was a student, played 170 performances on Broadway in 1923. Over the next 20 years

PhysicalBee

Spranger (van Den Schilde), Bartholomaeus

Urticaceae

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint

Gunasthana

Nero

Hormisdas, Saint

Paradise

Macomb

Voznesensky, Andrey Andreyevich

Balao

Alisar Hüyük

Hesiod

Checkers

Lustreware

Henríquez Ureña, Pedro

Pontiac

Cartoon

Arts, Central Asian, Tibetan literature

Orange Order

Clotilda, Saint

Tábor

Applied Logic

Visigoth

Berenson, Bernard

Caucasian Languages, Vocabulary

Schumann, Clara

Ventifact

Berlin, Free University Of

Peters, Carl

Minami-tori Island

Andersen, Hans Christian

Guadalupe, Basilica Of

Chauliac, Guy De

Janin

Tatarstan

Yamaguchi

Bona Dea

Basel-stadt

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490

Abutilon

Lagrangian Point

Alliteration

Literature

Goliad

Tzotzil

Colenso, John

U-boat

China, Vietnam

Dragonet

Computers, The IBM 360

Elias Of Cortona

Allegany

Swabia

Annobón

Dachau

Brehon Laws

Water Treader

Nutrition, Competition for sites of absorption by the cell

Feldkirch

Nabis

Dysphagia

World War I, The First Battle of the Marne

Philopoemen

Black Flag

Pregnancy, Chorionic villi sampling

Quindío

Leo

Aleixandre, Vicente

Steffani, Agostino

Grace & Co.

Eylau, Battle Of

Amreli

Aardwolf

Walter Of Coventry

Amphibious Warfare

Pytheas

Addo Elephant National Park

Amirante Isles

Peter Ii

France, History Of, France in the later Middle Ages, 11801490